The invention relates to a rotary internal combustion engine having a vane extending slidably through the rotor in a transverse direction for rotation with the rotor and transverse reciprocation.
The standard reciprocating engine used in automobiles has both a relatively small mechanical efficiency and fuel efficiency. One reason for this is the short stroke of the engine. The limited amount of time possible for the power stroke leads to incomplete detonation. The inefficiency increases with engine speed because the time for combustion is correspondingly reduced.
Another advantage of the conventional piston engine results from valve overlap. Since both exhaust and intake valves are open at the same time, a portion of the air/fuel mixture is exhausted unburned.
The thermal efficiency of the reciprocating engine is also considerably less than optimal. Detonation occurs before top dead center and so expansion of the gases causes the mixture to heat up rather than provide work energy.
A large number of rotary engines have been designed or built in an attempt to overcome such problems with piston engines and to reduce the number of working parts. Many of these have inherent problems which have impeded their development or widespread acceptance. For example, the only mass-produced rotary internal combustion engine has been the Wankel (trade mark) engine which has suffered from rotor sealing problems in the past as well as fuel consumption higher than a piston engine of similar performance. Part of the reason for the sealing problems is the relatively high speed of the rotor.